The present invention relates to a In situ reactor for use in geological strata such as various subsurface soils, sediment, or other matrix, and more specifically to an In situ reactor which is useful to evaluate environmental conditions required to remediate potential hazardous conditions which may occur in the soil and groundwater.
The costs associated with testing for various contaminants in soil and aquifers are well known. Currently, In situ assessment technology provides data on usually one treatment with respect to a contaminant. Further, replication of earlier testing is usually done at exorbitant monetary costs. Still further, the impact of current testing techniques to detect, for example, groundwater contamination has other environmental impacts on a given area and there is usually no guarantee regarding the accuracy of the resulting data. Routinely, investigators and engineers use rather costly laboratory tests to evaluate the efficacy of future and on-going remedial treatments.
While laboratory tests are more extensively used, and are generally considered more accurate, these studies are also more expensive to perform and may produce ambiguous or inaccurate data because of the consequences associated with excessive soil disruption. Still further, these same laboratory tests provide no assurances that same process will be found applicable in actual field conditions. For example, experiments that are run in a traditional manner on soil specimens or water extracted from soil specimens are not run traditionally under real time. Therefore, the results are sometimes questionable. Still further, in investigating various soil contamination, it is sometimes advisable to test proposed remediation while the soil specimen remains in hydraulic contact with the underlying subsurface aquifer. Yet further, there is no convenient method presently available whereby the aquifer may be investigated and/or modeled and not merely the groundwater which is sampled from same.
In addition to the shortcomings noted above, the prior art techniques do not allow soil specimens, for example, to maintain their biofilms and soil structures in an intact state while they are being tested for various contamination. In this regard, traditional techniques (removing the soil for laboratory testing) have introduced reactive sites to the soil and which has been disturbed in order to remove it for laboratory testing. Still further, the techniques for testing for groundwater and other soil contamination may have resulted in disturbing of the various microbial communities found in the soil column. Therefore the results of such testing have been highly questionable when microbial communities are relevant to the remediation treatment being considered for a given geological strata.
These and other shortcomings are addressed by means by an In situ reactor which will be discussed in further detail in the paragraphs which follow.
Therefore, one aspect of the present invention is to provide an In situ reactor for use in a geological strata and which includes a liner defining a centrally disposed passageway and which is placed in a borehole formed in the geological strata; and a sampling conduit received within the passageway defined by the liner and which receives a geological specimen which is derived from the geological strata, and wherein the sampling conduit is in fluid communication with the passageway defined by the liner.
Still another aspect of the present invention relates to an In situ reactor for use in a geological strata, and which includes a fluid coupler borne by the liner and which is disposed in fluid communication with both the liner and the sampling conduit and wherein the sampling conduit has a proximal and a distal end, and wherein the fluid coupler sealably mates to both the liner and the proximal of the sampling conduit, and wherein an aperture is formed in the sampling conduit, near the distal end thereof, and which provides fluid flowing communication between the sampling conduit and the passageway defined by the liner, and wherein the geological strata has a grade and wherein the fluid coupler includes first and second passageways which respectively communicate with the passageway defined by the liner, and the sampling conduit, and wherein the first and second passageways are coupled in fluid flowing relation to a location above grade.
Still another aspect of the present invention relates to an In situ reactor for use in geological strata, and which includes a liner having a main body, and which defines a passageway and wherein the liner is placed within a borehole which extends from a location at grade, into the geological strata, and wherein the liner is moveable along the borehole; a sampling conduit received within the passageway, and which defines a reactor space which is operable to receive a geological specimen which is derived from the geological strata, and wherein the reactor space is in fluid communication with the passageway defined by the liner; and a fluid coupler is borne by the liner, and which is disposed in fluid flowing communication with the passageway defined by the liner, and the reactor space, and wherein the fluid coupler is coupled in fluid flowing communication to a location above grade.
Still another aspect of the present invention relates to an In situ reactor, and wherein a force is applied from a location above grade and which is applied to the fluid coupler to simultaneously urge the liner and the sampling conduit along the borehole, and into contact with the geological strata, and wherein continued force applied to the fluid coupler causes the geological specimen which is derived from the geological strata to move into the reactor space.
Still another aspect of the present invention relates to an In situ reactor wherein the force applied to the fluid coupler may include linear and rotational components.
Still another aspect of the present invention relates to an In Situ reactor for use in geological strata, and which includes a cylindrically shaped liner having a main body with opposite proximal and distal ends, an outside facing surface which defines an outside diametral dimension, and an inside facing surface which defines a substantially cylindrically shaped passageway having a diametral dimension, and which extends between the proximal and distal ends, and wherein the liner is placed within a borehole having a diametral dimension which is greater than the outside diametral dimension of the main body, and which is formed in the geological strata and which extends from a location substantially at grade, and into the geological strata, and wherein the liner is moveable along the borehole; a geological strata engaging member borne by the distal end of the cylindrically shaped liner, and wherein the geological strata engaging member has a main body with a proximal end which nests within the passageway at the distal end of the liner, and a distal end which engages the geological strata; a sampling conduit having a substantially cylindrically shaped main body with opposite proximal and distal ends, and an outside facing surface which defines an outside diametral dimension which is less than diametral dimension of the passageway defined by the liner, and an inside facing surface which defines a reactor space which extends between the proximal and distal ends of the main body of the sampling conduit, and wherein an aperture is formed in the main body at a location near the distal end of the main body, and which establishes fluid flowing communication between the passageway defined by the liner and the reactor space, and wherein the main body of the sampling conduit is substantially concentrically located within the passageway defined by the liner, and wherein the distal end of the main body of the sampling conduit is juxtaposed relative to the proximal end of the geological strata engaging member; a fluid coupler mounted on the proximal end of the liner and which sealably mates to the proximal end of the sampling conduit, and wherein the fluid coupler defines a first fluid passageway which is coupled in fluid flowing relation relative to the passageway defined by the liner, and a second fluid passageway which is coupled in fluid flowing relation relative to the reactor space, and wherein the first and second fluid passageways are individually coupled in fluid flowing relation relative to a location above grade; and a force application assembly is provided and which is mounted on the fluid coupler, and which applies force to the fluid coupler to urge the liner, and the sampling conduit to simultaneously move along the borehole, and into contact with the geological strata, and wherein the continued application of force causes a geological specimen which is derived from the geological strata to move into the reactor space.
These and other aspects of the present invention will be discussed in greater detail hereinafter.